19:30 Chelmsford
This is a good quality seven-furlong handicap on the all-weather course at Chelmsford, and it has quite an open look to it.
The Ian Williams trained Shady McCoy is at the top of the handicap and he was a good winner of couple of handicaps in October, and then only just missed out in soft conditions at Doncaster when racing from a mark of 99. He was raised a further three pounds for that win but didn't have any chance over a mile last time out at Lingfield as he was stuck behind a lot of traffic, and the race was gone when a gap eventually became available. I think he definitely still has possibilities from his current mark of 102, and have proven form back over seven furlongs. The one worry is that he is usually held up, and it can prove quite tricky to come from behind here at Chelmsford.
Passtime, trained by Gay Kelleway, has run consistently so far in the second half of the year, winning twice and being placed three times from his last six races. He is now 13 pounds higher than his last winning mark due to this consistency, so will need to be at the top of his game to take this one on his return to the artificial surface. He has only raced twice on the all-weather, and won both of them, so the return to it is encouraging and may bring out even further improvement in him.
Show Stealer has been generally racing over shorter distances than this but was staying on well over six furlongs at Kempton last time out to finish second, so a step up to seven furlongs looks a good call. He has just one extra pound to carry and with Luke Morris on board he has the potential to be competitive again in this one.
Pearl Spectre is likely to show a lot of early pace and is just the two pounds heavier than when winning over course and distance a couple of weeks ago. He was all out that day to hold on so it would need a huge effort to win carrying more weight, but he is definitely a game horse and will likely be able to dictate the pace.
Today's selection
Shady McCoy - 1 point @ 11/2